Good post. I hope you have no long term injury and get full restitution.

I would add that you can't be too tight lipped to the police. There is no right to remain silent over traffic incidents. You have to answer a number of minimum questions including what happened, what route you took and which vehicle you were in/on/driving.

One other thing is to keep a spare battery/backup camera. I had my battery run out and then sure enough just a minute later I was side swipped by a car. Just brushed my elbow but it sucks because I had been recording for weeks and got nothing. I have no doupt that video evidence is absolute gold in cases like this. As I have taken traffic cases to court before and the stories of even independant eye-witnesses can be completely ridiculous and wrong. I record all my driving as well.

Oxford wrote:At present I am receiving my usual income from my employer who will be reimbursed by WorkCover. This is only because in Queensland, WorkCover applies to work journey claims. At some future point in time I will return to work with what are known as "suitable duties". This is where my doctor and I consult about what I can and cannot do work wise. This may include restricting my hours and/or duties. It may include taking specific rest breaks at specific times, exercises, that sort of thing. The idea being that eventually I reach my maximum possible duties that is possible post accident. At this time I will cease to receive WorkCover benefits and if I suffer a permanent post accident injury that cannot be rectified beyond what has already been done then I may be offered a settlement. I can accept or reject the settlement. If I reject it, then it goes to a common law claim. We both get lawyers, they talk, reach agreement on an amount and settle. If there is no agreement, then it hits the courts. From what I've been told this part is expensive and any extra benefit you may think you can get is usually swallowed up by legal fees. This whole process will take anywhere up to and possibly longer than 18 months.

If you are riding a bike (or in general really), then something that you really should consider is income protection insurance. Workcover won't cover lost income for very long, if at all.

Oxford wrote:As I had feeling in legs and arms, I realised that the injury was not yet serious.

Just want to point out this is not necessarily true. Seriousness is not so much as whether the spinal cord has been compromised, but whether it will be. And sensation isn't the only indicator of cord damage.

My best mate was hit by a car whilst riding to work, almost three years ago. They are STILL fighting the insurance company for settlement. A neurologist says he's lost roughly five percent of brain function as a result of his head injury, but the insurance company continues to dispute it. Their own doctors agree but they are still dragging their feet! It's absolutely disgraceful. I hope you have a quicker (positive) outcome, Ox.

Max

One of the best things about bicycle commuting is that it can mitigate the displeasure of having to go to work. - BikeSnobNYCCycling is sometimes like bobbing for apples in a bucket full of dicks. - SydGuy

Oxford wrote:I think though we all agree that stabilising a person is paramount. I remember when giving first aid to a kid about 3 years ago, bystanders wanted to move him and I had to get very forceful with them that he was not to be moved. having hit a pole at speed he had unknown injuries so stabilisation was required IMO. found out the next day there was nothing wrong with him, but having witnessed the accident I feared the worst.

Absolutely. The emergency care protocol is there for a reason, to assist the inexperienced and avoid poor decisions. Yet at some point, the victim will be moved, by qualified personnel.

Thanks for this Ox, very well thought out. As for coverage for the journey to and from work - public servants in WA haven't had this cover for years - the union CPSUCA provides cover for members though. It just goes to show its important to have a good understanding of all the insurance arrangements!

There seems to be a real lack of interest from the police in addressing these incidents. In the many examples I have heard both from friends and on these boards they don't want to know and advise the victim to treat it as a civil matter, even when someone is injured. This might be acceptable when the accident involves two vehicles and the likelihood of serious injury is low but when the accident involves a vulnerable road user (car v. bike, truck v. car, etc) then they should be treating it as a major accident. At a minimum there should be a requirement that they attend and follow up when an ambulance is called.

Wow! Just read the entire thread and am amazed! Thank you Oxford for sharing your experiences and I hope your recovery is coming along well!I agree with the last comment - the police response is inadequate for the injuries suffered and gives little faith in being treated fairly. As I have posted on the helmet cam thread, I am very seriously considering getting one as a result of my reading in the last few hours!

so what position do you stabilise yourself in, if after accident, you can still move or get up, but have taken some sort of hit to neck or back area, and fear 'hearing more about it"

I rode into a small factory-shop strip carpark a couple of years back, along Cheltenham Rd Keysborough/Dandenong , between Bridge and Cambria rd and Sinclair rd area any locals will know those shop factories. I was riding quite slowly, mercifully , as I was actually window shopping sporting wear stores while still moving, it was 5-6pm Autumn or winter months, so getting dark but not pitch black yet..first thing I knew of a problem was bike suddenly standing vertically on its front wheel , me then Rugby spear -tackled head-first vertically into carpark concrete...Id ridden into one of the carpark storm drain grate covers, which was wide enough spaced bars to accept a bike wheel easily, and also with no crossbars and bars facing the ideal way that bikes or any vehicles approach...

as I hit I remember an electric jolt going down my neck and spine, and thought split second, "oh, yeah, that feels good, this is going to be great"But I picked myself up, shaken, but standing...bike was still imbedded vertically front wheel down in the grating, with the wheel rim bent about 45 deg where it had sagged from the strain of supporting my body weight mid-air momentarily until I bulleted forward and head in..Im standing dazed still, and some woman speeding across carpark in her car blasts me with her horn that Im an obstruction in her path....

I made my way home, shaklen bruised and not pleased, but seemed to have withstood this hit..a few night later, Im punching a punching bag at health club, throw one right...

back goes TWANG...severe back and neck pain..."theres my bike spear-tackle craash from a few night ago".I thinks...I was in pain for a few weeks, not enough to stop me walking, but I had to stop all violent vigorous exercise such as the punching bag..But I did email Slater and Gordon for some idea what the legal liabilities of owners of that carpark were, in case things got worse ...even with a view to maybe, hey, what about my damaged bike?One front wheel that looks how my neck feels...

they seemed very wishy-washy about it..maybe because I wasnt yet presenting myself with a neck brace and the whole Nine Yards..If I was buggered up...would they have had to foot the bill?

I have just read this topic as I have recently been involved in an accident. Fortunately my personal injuries were relatively minor in comparison to yours but my bike was unrideable afterwards with a cracked frame, and completely buckled wheels. The driver of the car that hit me was at fault having turned right into me at a set of lights when I had right of way. The fact that it was at low speed as the lights had just turned green probably saved me from much more serious injury.

Despite this I have been beating my head against a wall with GIO to get them to replace my bike. Every step of the way has been like pulling teeth. They asked me to get 1 quote which I did. They never contacted me so i rang them to find out what was happening. They then said I needed a 2nd quote which annoyed me as I had to waste another week running around town. Then they said an assessor needed to see the bike??? Why I don't know after they had the 2 quotes. Then they said they weren't going to repair the bike and so were going to pay me out the value of the bike. Given that I had already provided them with 2 quotes showing the cost to replace or repair my bike I am currently arguing with them what my bike is worth. Why did I even waste my time getting the quotes if they are not going to use them to evaluate the cost of the bike?

Personally I will never buy any GIO insurance products after this experience (and i urge others to follow suit) but I'm not certain other company are any better. I am at the stage of getting legal advice to resolve this frustrating issue.

I too am never insuring with GIO. After having a crash in my teens that wasn't my fault I had to claim on the other party's GIO insurance (as I didn't have comprehensive) and it took 9 months and a phone call EVERY day after the first three months to get the money out of them. All that time I was car-less as I couldn't afford to replace while waiting for their money to come through.

Insurance companies don't get rich by paying out claims so they do all they can to stall.Have you tried their complaints line? I found them helpful and resolved my claim within a few days (house, not bike related).After that you have the ombudsman.The above are cheaper than lawyering up.